10 MYTHS ABOUT PORN Promoting children’s sexual health, combatting men’s violence against women What is Reality Check? Reality Check is an initiative promoting young people’s sexual health and preventing men’s violence against women and children. Funded by The Inheritance Fund, the project is a part of Talita’s prevention work and aims to increase young people’s knowledge about the harms of pornography. Lesson plans and practical tools will assist educators and other professio- nals working with children to address pornography’s influence on young people. Who is the target group? P young people aged 13-17 years old P school teachers, counsellors, school nurses, youth leaders and other professionals working with children and young people P parents Our resources are adapted not only to different target groups, but also different learning types. Written materials, short documentary films, and digital tools will be available once Reality Check’s digital platform is laun- ched. Reference groups comprising of our target groups and pilot schools are actively involved in the development and evaluation of Reality Check’s resources. We also offer professional development and supervision. Reality Check is informed by: P WHO’s definition of sexual health and sexual rights P Sweden’s gender equality goals P Sweden’s national strategy to prevent and combat men’s violence against women P Curriculum for elementary school, preschool, and kindergarten Do you want to know more? Visit our website www.reality-check.nu and find us on facebook; Reality Check or @realitycheck.nu on instagram. Contact: [email protected] 01 “Mainstream porn is like Playboy” For many adults, the word “porn” is synonymous with men’s magazines like Playboy and Hustler. But what was once considered porn 20-something years ago is now what we see in pop culture, featured in movies, tv-series and advertisements. The internet has pro- foundly changed the nature of pornography; it is now just a click away, completely ano- nymous and usually free. Pornography today takes the form of so-called “gonzo porn”, where close-up shots of genitals make viewers feel as if they were the ones enacting the sexualized acts, and where physical and verbal violence is the norm1. Internet pornography’s accessibility, affordability and anonymity constantly draw in new consumers across the globe. It is estimated that 30% of all data transmitted online today is pornographic content. Type “porn” into google and within the span of a few seconds, porn sites with a similar interface to Youtube (e.g. Pornhub, Youporn) are readily availa- ble for a viewer’s browsing. 4.6 billion hours of pornographic material is consumed each year through Pornhub alone, the largest online pornography website2. These so-called “tube sites” are all owned by Mindgeek, a global company that disguises itself as a bu- siness specializing in web design and IT, with no apparent connection to pornography. In reality, Mindgeek is now a monopoly over the production and distribution of por- nography, earning its millions in net worth through advertisements on their websites and by offering viewers subscription to pay-sites with more extreme content—that is, content with more elements of violence and humiliation3. Like any other capitalistic business, Mindgeek allocates huge sums of money towards advertisements in popular public spaces. In 2015, a large billboard in New York’s Times Square had Pornhub’s advertisement with the slogan “All you need is hand”, with the underlying message that people can find ultimate happiness if they have access to porn. Mindgeek has a vested interest in normalizing pornography while disguising the industry’s exploitative nature, so that the demand for pornography, and thus their profits, increases. 02 “My child doesn’t watch porn” Today, most children have access to the internet. A 2017 survey in the Swedish context found that 70% of children age 9-12 and 90% of children age over 12 own a computer and/or tablet, while 91% of the 9-12-year-old children and all children older than 12 have access to a smartphone4. The implication is that most children have unlimited ac- cess to online pornography. Research shows that the average boy begins watching por- nography at 12 years old5. A study study from 2014 found that 98% of all 16-year-old boys and 54% of all 16-year old girls had seen pornography, and 1 in 10 boys reported watching pornography at least once a day5. Results from data collected in 2014 found that 1 in 4 boys by the age of 18 watch pornography daily, and that these boys were more likely to have been subject to sexual abuse or to have sexually abused others6. Today, children viewing pornography is therefore the rule, rather than the exception. The changing face of pornography has left many adults lacking an understanding of the type of images that constitute mainstream pornography. Meanwhile, research shows that children generally refrain from speaking with parents or other adults they trust about pornography7. This is also a reason why relatively few parents utilize technolo- gies designed to protect their children from pornography—they are unaware that their children are exposed to it. Even if filters are in place in a child’s home, there is a consi- derable risk that the child will encounter pornography outside of the home, as schools and other public spaces may lack filters that limit children’s exposure to pornography8. As society becomes increasingly digitalized, we have an obligation to ensure that digital solutions are put in place to protect children from pornography. 03 “Porn is sex education” Inadequate sexual education is a reality faced by most children across the globe. Even children who do have access to some form of sexual education have most likely been exposed to pornography long before discussions about respect, consent and bodily in- tegrity take place. This means that the pornography industry has become children’s first and primary sexual educator9. Research shows how pornography’s content shapes viewer’s attitudes, which in turn affect behaviours10. What does pornography teach? Mainstream pornography is charac- terized by violence, sexism, racism and a lack of condom use. Condoms are almost never shown in pornography, as individuals used in its production are expected to engage in unprotected sexualized acts11. Pornography cements and reinforces racist stereotypes, with black women being portrayed as having “animal-like” tendencies, Latina women as having “huge asses”, migrant women as being “willing” to have sex in exchange for a residence permit, and asian women as “exotic” and “childlike”9. In pornography, violence is also the norm: a study from 2010 found that 9 in 10 of the most popular pornography films contained phy- sical violence, like gagging (when a man penetrates a woman orally to the point that she gags and/or throws up), open-hand slapping, hair pulling and choking1. Nearly 50% of all scenes contained verbal aggression, with women being called dehumanizing and derogato- ry names such as “whore”, “cunt” and “slut”. Virtually all humiliation, aggression and violence in pornography is directed at women by men, and women are coerced into appearing as though they enjoy the sexualized violence. What do men and boys watching pornography learn? That a “real man” doesn’t need to respect a “no”, that violence is how he will fulfil the harmful masculinity norms that pornography conveys. Young girls are con- ditioned into thinking that sexual violence is what they should expect during sexual encounters. Pornography thereby promotes and perpetuates destructive mascu- linity norms, racist stereotypes, and sexualized violen- ce. It fails to teach young people a sexuality based on consent, respect and equality—in fact, it teaches the exact opposite. 04 “Porn doesn’t affect relationships” Research has identified a correlation between pornography consumption and a generally lower relationship quality12. Youth clinics are also seeing a growing trend of so-called “porn-induced erectile dysfunction”, where young men experience delayed ejaculation, an inability to be turned on by real partners, and difficulty getting or maintaining an erection long enough to engage in sex13. Why would viewing pornography lead to these outcomes? Today’s pornography produ- ces a distorted and inaccurate view of how men and women’s bodies look and function. Pornography consumers may become critical towards themselves and their partners, adopting unrealistic and harmful expectations when it comes to appearance and sexual behaviour14. Both individuals may end up experiencing a lack of self-esteem, or feel pressured to take part in sexual acts that they are uncomfortable with, believing that these acts are “the norm”. Further, pornography socializes male viewers into seeing wo- men as objects whose task is to sexually please men. Research has found that only 10% of scenes contained positive behaviours like kissing, laughter, embraces; and even those scenes contained on average four aggressive acts1. In mainstream pornography, women are reduced to body parts that are to be “pounded”, “blasted”, “stretched”. Translating these messages to real-life relationships, it is no surprise that men in particular are rob- bed of their ability to experience romance, passion and physical and emotional intimacy with a real partner. 05 “Porn is just fantasy” People argue that pornography is just a fantasy: “it’s not real”, “it occurs in one’s mind”, “it doesn’t affect people in what we call ‘real life’”. But to make pornography, pornograp- hers use real people who partake in real sexualized acts that have real-life consequen- ces. Unlike violence in Hollywood movies, there is nothing fake about the violence in pornography, and the effects of that violence. Women, of flesh and blood, are forced to endure degrading, dehumanizing and violent sexualized acts.